Westerschelde?

[neil1967]

Our 40' yacht is currently ashore in Wemeldinge, NL, but we will be sailing her to Portugal, where we now live. I'm struggling to find information on the best time to enter the Westerschelde at Hansweert to maximise the ebb to get as far down the Belgian coast on a favourable tide as possible. I would be grateful for any pointers. Many thanks.

 

[westhinder]

The obvious thing to do would be to exit the lock at Hansweert as the current turns, which is approximately HW Hansweert and 1 hour after HW Vlissingen. Depending on wind and boatspeed I would expect you are at the mouth of the Westerschelde/Vlissingen 21 nm downstream 2.5-3 hours later. At that point you will be +/- 4 after HW Vlissingen, which means that there you have two hours of favourable current left. Fortunately for you you get an extra hour as you move to the west. Again assuming you have a favourable wind so you do not have to beat and you maintain your speed, this will allow you to be close to Oostende when the tide turns against you. Mind you, you are going against the prevailing wind direction, which is SW to W.
If you want to take maximum advantage of the tide, an alternative might be to stop at Breskens for the night and take a full tide along the Belgian coast. You could even go from Wemeldinge to Vlissingen via Oosterschelde, Veerse Meer and the Canal to Vlissingen and depart from there.

 

[Marmalade]

Westhinder = good authority on this so won't "me too" One other thought though... he mentions the wind. We came out of Wemeldinge earlier this year (lovely spot by the way) having originally intended to do pretty much as westhinder suggests. But the forecast was for 16kts of westerly wind - which once beating into it would be 20kts and wind over tide. The Westerschelde is a bloody awful place in those conditions - so we turned left and headed down through Walcheren to exit at Vlisssingen and we made Breskens by late afternoon. Depending on your appetite for rumpty-tumpty sailing this may be a plan B to have in your back pocket!

 

[neil1967]

Thanks both. When we originally sailed to the Netherlands we took the Breskens - Vlissingen - Walcheren route to Wemeldinge, so we are familiar with that. Need to look into the overall passage plan, but useful info. Marmalade - good photo - we used to over-winter in the binnenhaven in the area that photo was taken, and have summer in the main marina. Lovely!

 

[johnalison]

The Westerschelde state depends on the direction of the wind. A few years ago we did a trip from Terneuzen to Breskens in solitude with a F8 from the SW. The sea was completely flat. On another occasion, in a small boat we struggled to get from Breskens to Zeebrugge and the children inside swore that they had seen fish through the cabin window.

 

[westhinder]

The Westerschelde state depends on the direction of the wind. A few years ago we did a trip from Terneuzen to Breskens in solitude with a F8 from the SW. The sea was completely flat. On another occasion, in a small boat we struggled to get from Breskens to Zeebrugge and the children inside swore that they had seen fish through the cabin window.

As long as you’re upstream of Breskens/Vlissingen you are in sheltered waters with a very limited fetch. Cross that line to the west and that is where the Schelde meets the North Sea. The ebb runs at up to 3 knots and if you combine that with a strong wind from SW to NW, you get interesting waves. It does not get any better until you’re well past Zeebrugge harbour. Zeebrugge only exacerbates the waves, as it protrudes from the coastline and a lot of water is forced around it. Even in very moderate circumstances the waves off the entrance are uncomfortable. In a bit of a blow you get very high, square waves with very deep holes in between. Apart from the dredged channel the whole area is pretty shallow, coming from Breskens to Zeebrugge you gradually lose the protection of the Vlakte van de Raan sandbanks, it all contributes to the experience.